MUMBAI, March 19 (PNA/Xinhua) -- Maldives island residents
saw "low flying plane" on the morning of disappearance of the
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Maldivian news website Haveeru reported.
Haveeru reported that residents of the remote Maldives
island of Kuda Huvadhoo said they saw a "low-flying plane" around
6.15am (Maldivian time) on March 8, the day when the flight disappeared.
It also said the residents reported that that it was a white
aircraft, with red stripes across it like the planes operated by Malaysia
Airlines.
Eyewitnesses from the Kuda Huvadhoo concurred that the plane
was traveling North to South-East, towards the Southern tip of the
Maldives-Addu island. They also noted the incredibly loud noise that the flight
made when it flew over the island.
Haveeru quoted an eyewitness as saying: "I've never
seen a jet flying so low over our island before. We've seen seaplanes, but I' m
sure that this was not one of those. I could even make out the doors on the
plane clearly."
The eyewitness said many other people on the island have
also seen the plane.
Mohamed Zaheem, the Island Councilor of Kuda Huvadhoo, said
that the residents of the island had spoken about the incident, according to
Haveeru.
The Malaysia Airlines jet MH370 disappeared on March 8 with
239 people on board after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing.
Investigators say it was deliberately diverted off course.
Twenty-six countries are now helping to hunt for the plane
after satellite and military radar data projected two huge corridors through
which it might have flown.
Australian and American authorities on Tuesday said they had
begun searching the remote Indian Ocean for the missing jet. They conceded it
was like looking for a needle in a haystack. (PNA/Xinhua)
LAM/EBP
